Thursday, September 14
is a National Call-In Day
to help save the Endangered Species Act.
H.R. 2275, also known as the Young/Pombo "Extinction Bill," basically guts
the protections in the Endangered Species Act as we know it. The bill:
-Concentrates most of the power of the Endangered Species Act in the
hands of the Secretary of the Interior and turns decisions about whether
to list species basically into political footballs. Currently, science is
supposed to be the only factor in deciding whether most species are
listed. In the future, if this bill is passed, it would become a
political issue in the hands of the Secretary of the Interior. Remember,
James Watt was recently our Secretary of the Interior!
-Imposes a costly bureaucracy on the Endangered Species Act, making it
more difficult to list species as endangered, increasing the chance that
they will become extinct before they are even listed.
-Requires that the cost of actions taken to save species be estimated.
But no effort is required under the bill to estimate the cost of losing
species. In this way, the cost-benefit analyses generated will be flawed
from the start.
-Allows the Secretary of the Interior to do basically nothing to
protect a species, if he or she so chooses, even if the species is
endangered. This guts current protections for endangered species.
IF YOU CARE ABOUT THE MORE THAN 700 ENDANGERED SPECIES IN THE UNITED STATES,
PLEASE CONTACT THE ENDANGERED SPECIES COALTION FOR MORE INFO AT (202)547-9009,
or ask for more infor at the e-mail address: jjontz at audubon.org.
DO IT NOW.
There is no more time to wait.
AND PLEASE CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVE IN THE HOUSE ON THURSDAY, September 14.
Call (202)224-3121 and ask for your Representative.
And tell your friends.
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Here is the alert I received recently from the Endangered Species Coalition:
National Call Congress Day; September 14
KEEP YOUR REPRESENTATIVE FROM SIGNING H.R. 2275
THE YOUNG/POMBO "EXTINCTION" BILL
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When to call:
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Thursday, September 14
>From 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern time
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Who to call:
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The Capitol Hill switchboard is (202)224-3121;
call and ask for your Representative
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What to say:
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H.R. 2275 WILL "ROLL BACK THE ESA," JUST SAY NO!
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H.R. 2275 WILL:
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Allow the Secretary of the Interior to choose extinction.
The H.R. 2275 would end this Nation's long-standing commitment to
ensuring that our great diversity of fish, wildlife, and plant
species is passed to future generations. Under the bill, the
Secretaries of Interior and Commerce would no longer be required
to attempt to recover imperiled species.
Pays off landowners for complying with stewardship obligations.
The H.R. 2275 contains "takings" language that would create a huge
new entitlement program for anyone who complies with the ESA.
Under H.R. 2275, the ESA could not be enforced to prevent a
landowner from destroying spawning habitat relied upon by
endangered salmon and by thousands of downstream commercial and
recreational anglers -- unless the landowner is paid off by the
government.
Eliminates essential habitat protections.
The H.R. 2275 would overrule the recent Sweet Home Supreme Court
decision.
Imposes costly bureaucracy and delay.
The H.R. 2275 calls for enormous hurdles before listing a species.
The taxpayers would foot the bill for not only these costs, but
the costs in recovering more species later.
Shrinks protection of habitat on public lands.
Under the guise of creating a "National Biological Diversity
Reserve" the bill would be able to dramatically eliminate
protection of biodiversity on public lands.
DON'T DELAY, CALL TODAY!!